Safety cock for gas burners



Jan. 6, 1931. s. e. CAMFBELJ.

SAFETY cocx FOR GAS aunusas Filed June 6, 1928 n. m. ,6. M M 7 e I t Iinventor Samuel 61' @Zzm sition.

Patented Jan. 6, 1931 STAT YES FATE oFFicE I sAMuEL G. CAMPBELL, orNEWTON, iIOWA SAFETY COCK FOR GAS BURNERS:

Application fi1ed June 6,192B. Serial No. 283,174.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide an improved safety lockfor the valve I of a gas'burner which operates not only to preventmovement of the valve f'roin comn1 .pletely closed .to open positio'mbutalso to prevent movement from certain intermediate points to furtheropened pos1tion, unt1l after the ur os'eful'a li'cation of force to P ip release the locking means. w

Still another object of the invention isf to provide a device of thecharacter/set forth which is simple and economical of construction andcapable of being attached to a burner valve without a great expense.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of mydevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, inwhich; M

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section showing a burner having a valveor cock equipped with one form of my improved latching means. I m

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationon anen- I larged scaleon the line 2'2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the valve on the line 3-3 of Fig.2.

Fig. l is a bottom plan view partly in section onthe line4l l of Fi 2and illustrating two diiferent positions of the meclmmsm.

Fig. 5 is a detail horizontal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. V 1

Fi 6 is a verticalsection through a burner valve actuating mechanism andillustrating the applicationjof' adift'erent form of my improved safetylocking means.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the detached spring latching meansemployed in the form shown in Fig. 6.

,It is a well known fact that in the use of deal of trouble or.

gas burners such as are commonly employed 111' heating and cookingstoves and the like, particularly where the burner is equipped with" avalve having a lever operating means, as dis anguished from a screwthreaded operating means. there is considerable danger that the valvewill at times be moved to open position inadvertently through "contactwith clothil' fof, persons moving about the room or by children in theirplay or acting under the pron'iptingsof curiosity. Such acts may attimes result fatally tooccupants of a roomor buildin or may resultinconsiderable damage to life and'property through .an explosion which mayoccur later in the presence of an open flame It is to prevent suchoccurrences that I have providedthe improved latching means or safetylock which forms the subject matter of this application.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 10 is employed to designate agasburn'er adapted tobe supplied w'ithgas from a feed pipe 12 throughamanually operatedcock or valve. v

The valve here shown includes a valve body 14. havingan inlet nipple 18communicating with the feed pipe 12 and an outlet nipple 18communicating with the burner 10. The valve alsoin'cludes a, taperedvalve plug 20 mounted vertically through the body 14. and having a port22 extending transversely therethro'ugh and adapted at times to registerwith he opening through the nipples 16 and 18.

This type of valve alsoemploys an expansive coil spring245'mounted onthe projecting lower end of the valve plug QObetween washers26, thelowermost said washers being held in place by a screw 28 threaded in thelower end of the plug 20. It is the function of the spring 2% to. applya yielding pressure on the valve plug 20 to draw it firmly into thetapered bore of the valve body 14.

In this type of valve the valve plug pro gects upwardly a considerabledistance above the body 14 and isprovided at its upper end.

with a laterally extending lever or handle 30 adapted formanualactuation to operate the valve. The valve plug is normally movablethrough an arc of about 90 degrees and the limits of such movement aredefined by a stop pin 32 projecting laterally from the valve alui andrestricted as to movement in either direction by shoulders 34 and 36formed at'thc u per end of the valve body l4.

'i ho pans lu/reinheiore described are con1 niou andwell known andconstitute a valve mocha: sni'which in common use... lhey are here shownand describediir detail to form a basis for the disclosure of myimproved safety latching means.

In both forms o my inven ion shown by.

the accompanying drawing, I employ a yield- 111g latching means adaptedfor engagement with a ratcheted stop surface'on the valve bony 14 sothat the valvemay be locked or tending throughout that portion of theplug .which is inclosed within the valve body 14 and in this groove alatching member is I slidablv mounted.

r The latching member 40 projects below the valve body 14 and is formedat its'l'ower end with a laterallyprojecting latching lap; 42. whichadapted to coact with the ratcheted stop 38 by engaging the shouldersthereof.

The latching lug 42 is engaged by the no permost washer 26 and ispressed upwardly into engagement with the ratchet 38 by. the action ofthe coil spring 24. I

The latching member 40 also projects above the valve body 14 and extendsupwardly and terminates in a hood 44 or similar member overly ng theupper end of said plug adjacent'the valve handle or leverBO.

As shown in 3, the slidable latching member 40'is formed in two partswhich meet v at a point intermediate of the tapered valve plug 20. Thisarrangement is merely for convenience of assembly of the parts and topermit insertion of the upper end portion of the latching member fron'iabove and the lower end portion from. below since there are projectingparts at the extreme ends of. both of said members.

In this form of the invention the latching lug 42 is released by thumbpressure on the hood 44 coincident with or just prior-to the act ofmoving the valve or handle 30 'toward open position. The pressure movesthe slidable latching member 40 with its latching lug 42 downwardly sothat said lug clears the teeth of the ratchet stop 38 and permits freemovement of the valve members.

"Vhen pressure on the hood 44 1s released,

the spring 24 acts to return the latching' lug 4 to engagement with oneor the other 01 the teeth. of the ratchet 38, thus effectively )I(.venting movement of the valve members to furtheropened position untilsuch time as the latching means is released by purposeful pressure. onthe member 44.

In the form shown in Figs. (land 7, an arcuate ratchete-d stop 46 isformed on the upper end of the valve body 14.

In this form, the latching member itself has the characteristics of aspring. This latching member has its central portion bent tosubstantially V form as at 48 and this portion underlies and'is in closecontact with the taperedhandle or-lever 30, asclearly shown in Fig. 6.,

At one end, the V-shaped latching member 48 is formed with an upturnedanchoring lug or car 50. r

In assembling or attaching the latchiu member to the valve thelever 3.0is removed by taking out thescrew 52, which is employed for attaching itto the upper end of the valve plugQO. Then, the latching member isplaced in position against the valve plug and the lever: and screw arereplaced, the screw passing through an aperture 51 in the attaching'ear50.

'At its opposite end the latching member 43 is formedwith a downwardlyextending pertion 54. which isslidably arranged 111 a groove 56 formedlongitudinally 1n the upper portion otthe valve plug '20.

At its lower end, the straight portion ol? the latching member is formedwith a laterally projecting ear 58 adapted to cooperate with theratcheted stop 46 by engagement with one or another of the teeth orshoulders thereof. :7 f r To release this form of latching means, upwardpressure is applied to the lower member of the V-shaped spring portion40 at the same time that lateral pressure is applied to move the leverorhandle 30 toward open position. r

It will be noted that in both forms of the mechanism very little extraeffort is required to release the latching means and that such effort asis required may be easily and rearh ily applied coincident with thenormal act of moving the valve lever.

With respect to the first described i'm'iu. it will be noted that in thenatural position of the hand for operating the valve lever. the thumbwill overlie the upper end of the valve plug and the only effortrequired to release the latch is a slight pressure with the thumbdownwardly on the hood 44.

With respect tothesecond described form ofthe invention, it will benoted that the natural position of the hand for moving the valve leverinvolves a placing of one or more of the fingers beneath the valve leverand in such position that such finger or fingers will naturally comeinto contact with the spring portion 48 when it is mounted below saidlever. The onlyextra efiort required to release the locking means is anupward pressure against the spring portion 48 with one or more of thefingers, thus causing the straight portion 54- to slide upwardly in thegroove 5b and cause the latching lug 58 to clear the ratchet 48.

The particular reason for having several 7 stops for engagement by thelatching lug 42 or 58 is to prevent danger which might occur through aclosing of the valve followed. by an opening movement without relightingthe burner. For instance, when children are playing about a roonicontaining a lighted gas burner, they .niaylhrmigh curiosity orotherwise, turn the va e to closed or nearly closed position so theflame will be extinguished and then may thereafter open the valve orattempt to place it in the same condition in which it was originally.

If the burner is not relighted or is not provided Withmeans forautomatically relighting it when opened, such an act will'of courseresult in the escape of gas.

When a burner is equipped with my improved latching means for the valve,the valvewill be automatically locked in closed or partly closedposition, thus preventing member and arranged to coact with said stop,

said" latch having a part extending over the end of the valve plug acentthe lever and adapted to receivethumb. pressurefor releasing the lugfrom said stop simultaneously with aturning force applied to said leverfor rotating the valve plug.

2. A safety cock comprising a valve body, a tapered plug extendingthrough and projecting at both ends from said body, a handle on one endof said plug, a spring at the opposite end for causing said plug to befirmly seated in the body, and a latch member ere tending through saidbody and having one end located adjacent said handle, the other end ofsaid latch member being formed with a laterallydirected lug, said bodybeing formed with a ratchetedstop adjacent said spring, said lug beingurged by said spring into engagement with said stop.

SAMUEL G. CAMPBELL.

the further opening of the valve without a release of the latchingmeans.

By making the stop of ratchet form, there is no interferencewith closingmovement of the valve lever and the latching lug need not be released topermit closing movement.

Although I have shown and described my improved latching means asapplied to a valve for gas burners, yet it is obvious that- 'it may alsobe used for other purposes and particularly for other types and kinds ofvalves; Hence, I do not desire to be understood as limiting mysell tothe application of this improvement to valves for gas burners.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement ofthe partsof my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention, and it is my in tention to cover by my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may bereasonably inchided within their scope.

1 claim as my invention:

1.. A safety latch for a gas burner valve, said valve including a valvebody, a valve plug rotatably mounted therein, and a lever ilXBd to andprojecting laterally from one end o'l said plug, said safety latchcomprisin. a spring actuated latching member, said valve plug beingformed with a longitudinal groove extending to its other end to receivesaid latching member for sliding movement through the valve body, a stopon said valve body at the end opposite to said lever, and a latching lugcarried by the spring actuated

